The Eighth Inning Meltdown
The Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre. We had the lead until the eighth inning just fell apart. Tyron Guerrero and Alec Gamboa combined to give up five hits and five runs in that single frame. That disaster turned a winnable game into a 6-4 loss and lengthened the losing streak. Following that inning, the Blue Jays seized the lead and never looked back. To secure the series victory, they poured on five total runs in the frame. It was an ugly night north of the border for Boston fans watching the game.
Willson Contreras dropped a pop fly into foul territory during the eighth inning.
The very next pitch served as the nail in the coffin for the Red Sox. That drop involved a foul ball Contreras missed which would have triggered an infield fly rule if fair. Following that error, Kazuma Okamoto drove in the go-ahead run immediately. The Blue Jays capitalized on the error and the pitching change that followed. According to Over the Monster, the bullpen shuffling was a bad move by the coaching staff. The whole sequence felt like a breakdown in communication rather than just bad luck.
One Hero and a Bad Call
Wilyer Abreu kept the game close by making an absurd play out in right field. He stole a hit from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a ball that had an expected batting average of .990. He also doubled up an eager Brett Bateman with a great throw. His heroics prevented the Red Sox from almost certainly giving up the lead. Abreu might have gone just 1-for-4, but that defensive stop was huge. Without him, the scoreline gets even uglier.
The real problem was the decision to pull a reliable pitcher too early. The Red Sox shuffled their bullpen, choosing Guerrero in the eighth inning over Garrett Whitlock. Guerrero gave up a single, then another single, then a third single. He followed those hits with two walks. Chad Tracy pulled his typically reliable reliever without him recording a single out. If that isn’t a depressing turn of events, what is? The manager asked the wrong questions and got the wrong answers from his arms. It’s the kind of move that makes you want to throw your remote.
Why the Strategy Failed
I’ve seen this movie before, and the ending never changes when the coach ignores the numbers. The decision to swap pitchers in the eighth was a clear mistake that cost the team the game. You can’t pull a pitcher who is throwing strikes just because you are nervous. The stats show that Whitlock was the better option, but the coach went with Guerrero instead. That choice led directly to the five-run explosion that doomed the team. It feels like the coaching staff is losing faith in their own players too fast.
The team played bad baseball for three days in a row after a good two-month run. Boston did everything right for nearly two months, but they were going to regress back to the mean. Saturday was the start of the slide, and Wednesday was the result of an absolute implosion. Ceddanne Rafaela also struggled with his plate discipline and swing decisions. He chased pitches outside of the zone in the sixth and eighth innings. If he keeps swinging at everything, no one is going to throw him strikes. The team needs to fix these mental errors before the streak gets worse. (ap)
